Wire mesh and method of producing same

ABSTRACT

A wire mesh consisting of hexagonal meshes having an improved strength by inserting transverse wires at regular distances across the mesh and providing longitudinally extending seam wires at the lateral seams of the wire mesh.

United States Patent Vanderfaeillie 51 Aug. 8, 1972 WIRE MESH AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Willy Vanderfaeillie, Kortrijk, Belgi- [72] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: N.V. Bekaert S.A., Zwenegem,

Belgium [22] Filed: March 19, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 20,917

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data March 28, 1969 France ..6909445 [52] U.S. CI. ..245/7, 140/3 C [51] Int. Cl. ..B2lf 27/08 [58] Field of Search.....245/7; 140/3 C, 6, 31; 256/45 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 295,251 3/1884 Hulbert ..245/7 505,812 10/1893 Brown ..245/7 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 10,782 8/1887 Great Britain ..245/7 6,279 3/ 1910 Great Britain ..245/7 120,308 11/1918 Great Britain ..245/7 Primary Examiner-Richard J. Herbst Attorney-Sparrow and Sparrow ABSTRACT- A wire mesh consisting of hexagonal meshes having an improved strength by inserting transverse wires at reguIar distances across the mesh and providing 1ongitudinally extending seam wires at the lateral seams of the wire mesh.

8 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures WIRE MESH AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME BACKGROUND OFTHEINVENTION relatively low stiffness. The flexibility of these meshes is sometime troublesome and impractical. The triple torsioning of the mesh wires for forming the meshes is performed in the direction of the chain or warp of the roll of mesh. In consequence thereof, the wire mesh is so limp, even if the wires which form the meshes are tensioned in the longitudinal direction of the roll, that it lacks in reality a rigidity in the transverse direction across the roll, or in other words, in the direction of the weft. In fact, if all themeshes along the lateral seams are not fixed after the wire mesh has been tensioed in both longitudinal and transverse directions, the wire mesh will deform under the influence of the least pressure, will lose its shape and its effectiveness. When, for example, the mesh is tensioned parallel to the seams thereof and particularly in the shape of a vertically arranged curtain of an enclosure, the horizontal seams have the tendency of closing inwardly; when, to the contrary, the mesh is tensioned transversely with respect to the seams, such as in the case of a breastwork basket, the seams tend to give way outwardly. This invention presents a solution for the problem.

SUMMARY The invention consists in such novel features, construction arrangements, combinations of parts and improvements as may be shown and described in connection with the wire mesh herein disclosed by way of example only and as illustrative of a preferred embodiment. The invention consists in a novel structure of wire mesh with hexagonal meshes, triple twisted, for reinforcing the strength and the stiffness of this mesh in the transverse direction thereof. Straight transverse wires are inserted in the mesh at regular intervals, extending across the mesh from one longitudinal seam to the other. The wires are intertwined in the twisted portions of the meshes. If the wire mesh is intended for use where the seams have the tendency to close in, such as, for example when used for an enclosure, the transverse wires are made of rigid bars. If the wire mesh should be used where the seams tend to move apart, for example, for making breastwork baskets, the transverse wires are kept soft and slack and are usually left to extend beyond the seams, thus constituting means for binding loose ends between the seams. The method of manufacturing of this novel wire mesh comprises inserting the transverse straight wires during the weaving of the mesh itself by interrupting the twisting of a row of meshes and by feeding the straight wire into the partially twisted mesh wires and then finishing the twisting of the row of meshes.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereafter and in part will be obvious therefrom or may be learned by practicing the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel reinforced wire mesh consisting of hexagonal meshes.

It is a further object of the invention to provide stiffening wires in the wire mesh for stiffening the mesh web in the transverse direction of the web or in the horizontal direction thereof, or in both directions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new method of producing reinforced wire mesh of the kind consisting of triple twisted hexagonal meshes.

Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages will clearly appear from the detailed description given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form part of this spec ification and illustrate merely by way of examples certain embodiments of the device of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION'OF THE DRAWINGS.

In the following description and in the claims, part will be identified by specific names for convenience, but such names are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings, in which FIG.. 1 illustrates part of reinforced wire mesh according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows part of reinforced wire mesh constituting a further embodiment of the invention, partly broken away;

FIG. 3 shows in isometric view a part of the apparatus for manufacturing of reinforced wire mesh according to the invention; and

FIG. 4 shows in isometric view and in an enlarged scale attachment of a transverse wire or weft member in one of the twists.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in more detail to the drawing illustrating preferred embodiments by which the invention may be realized, there is shown in FIG. 1 a part of a wire mesh consisting of conventional hexagonal meshes wherein each wire 1 is twisted at 2 with the adjacent wires 1a from the left and 1b from the right, alternatingly, while the meshes are simultaneously forwarded by being transported around a roller 3 (FIG. 3) which has hooks 4 engaging the formed meshes. However, while the usual triple twisted wire mesh does not have transverse wires, the wire mesh according the the invention has straight transverse weft wires 5 which cross at regular increments an entire row of meshes and are fixed in the meshes by the twists 2 of the warp wires. The ends of transverse wires 5 extend to a certain length, beyond the seams 6,7 of the mesh, as indicated by the reference numerals 8 and 9.

When the wire mesh is to be used for production, as for example, of breastwork baskets, it is desirable to have transverse wires 5 extend at 8 and 9 beyond seams 6 and 7, respectively, an adequate distance thus joining the ends for forming side walls of the baskets. The existence of these ends on the mesh itself presents appreciable time saving in manufacturing of such baskets, whereby greater uniformity and efficiency of binding of the various side walls is achieved. In this case, wires 6 and 7 which are subject to tension, may have a relatively small diameter and may remain soft provided that they have the desired resistance against tension; for example, wires can be used having a similar diameter or larger or smaller than the diameters of wires 1, la and lb of the meshes. The wires may be treated in conventional manners for galvanizing, coating with plastic, etc.

For other uses, another structure is disclosed, such as that shown in FIG. 2. One or both ends of each or of certain selected transverse wires 5 may be wound by an appropriate mechanism, such as at around seams 6, 7, of the wire mesh. Seam wires 6, 7, which are fixed at their ends, may be soft or stifi according to their being subject to tension or the compression, respectively, or to both.

When the wire mesh is being used in an enclosure, it is also desirable to have the two ends of the transverse wires extend beyond the seams, where they may be used on one side of the mesh in the shape of short and pointed ends as a defense barrier and, on the other side, relatively long and sharpened for being forced or pushed into the ground for securing and maintaining the mesh enclosure in vertical position. It is further possible to leave one or both of these two ends free, whereby each of these ends may be finally rolled around the seams in such manner as hereinbefore described. In all these uses, wherein the horizontal seams of the enclosure have the tendency to close inwardly, wires 5 should be stiff and constitute substantial rods.

In the case of a wire mesh of 50 cm width, rods 5 may have a diameter in the range of 2.5 to 3.0 mm; for wire meshes of 1 meter width with meshes of 80 mm, the rods may have a diameter of 5 to 6 mm.

To obtain a wire mesh according to the invention, the following method is preferably followed. When it is intended to insert such wires at regular increments according to the positions where such wires are desired, the mechanisms of forwarding and of twisting of the warp wires 1, 1a and 1b is stopped in the middle of the triple twists which belong to the corresponding row of meshes, such as at 11 in FIG. 4. After one-and-one half windings, the transverse wire is fed between warp wires 1, 1" in The course of twisting and then the mechanism of twisting and forwarding is again set in motion as soon as the transverse wire 5 has been fed through the entire width of the mesh, and transverse wire 5 being cut at the desired length.

The assembly of driving and stopping of the forward- 1. Wire mesh having seams, said mesh being constituted of hexagonal meshes formed by twisting of wires, said wire mesh comprising straight transverse wires extending at least from one of said seams to the other of said seams a re lar incre en said ransverse wires being me in e twistso sat wires orming said meshes, said twists having an axis disposed angularly with respect to the axes of said transverse wires fixed in said twists, said twists comprising said wires twisted about said twist axis in continuous uniform angular rotation for the full lengths of said twists when viewed from one end of said transverse wires, said angular rotation being in one direction for the full lengths of said twists.

2. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires having ends, said ends extending beyond at least one of said scams.

3. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires having means for attaching the former by binding them on at least one of said seams.

4. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires consisting of soft wires disposed for work under tension.

5. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires consisting of stiff wires disposed for work under compression.

6. Wire mesh according to claim 2, and at least a part ,of said transverse wires consisting of soft wires disposed for work under tension.

7. Wire mesh according to claim 2, and at least a part of said transverse wires consisting of stiff wires disposed for work under compression.

8. The wire mesh according to claim 1, wherein the axes of said twists are substantially perpendicular to the axes of said transverse wires. 

1. Wire mesh having seams, said mesh being constituted of hexagonal meshes formed by twisting of wires, said wire mesh comprising straight transverse wires extending at least from one of said seams to the other of said seams at regular increments, said transverse wires being fixed in the twists of said wires forming said meshes, said twists having an axis disposed angularly with respect to the axes of said transverse wires fixed in said twists, said twists comprising said wires twisted about said twist axis in continuous uniform angular rotation for the full lengths of said twists when viewed from one end of said transverse wires, said angular rotation being in one direction for the full lengths of said twists.
 2. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires having ends, said ends extending beyond at least one of said seams.
 3. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires having means for attaching the former by binding them on at least one of said seams.
 4. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires consisting of soft wires disposed for work under tension.
 5. Wire mesh according to claim 1, and at least a part of said transverse wires consisting of stiff wires disposed for work under compression.
 6. Wire mesh according to claim 2, and at least a part of said transverse wires consisting of soft wires disposed for work under tension.
 7. Wire mesh according to claim 2, and at least a part of said transverse wires consisting of stiff wires disposed for work under compression.
 8. The wire mesh according to claim 1, wherein the axes of said twists are substantially perpendicular to the axes of said transverse wires. 